I Want My Plants To Grow!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Whitney Farms for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

How cute are these planters? I found them pretty cheap while shopping yesterday, so I couldn't pass them up. I bought the two plants on the right today, but I have had the African Violet on the right for a while now.  I used to have it in a smaller planter, which seemed to have contributed to it's not growing.  Now that it is in a bigger planter, I am hoping it will grow.

I'm thinking I might need some organic plant food to help it along.  I tried to find some today, but there were so many choices, so I decided to do a little research before deciding on which one to buy.

Whitney Farms®  has 25+ years of leading gardening experience and has improved their products to have:

• low to no dust
• no manure odor
• easy to apply
• contains beneficial microbes
• specially designed protein-based blends provide your plants with both macro and micronutrients they need to grow and thrive

I have heard there are many benefits to planting your plants in organic soil.  Whitney Farms® has a full line of 100% natural plant foods and organic soils with no additives.  There is nothing artificial about them.  They only use ingredients from the Earth that are designed to give you big, beautiful flowers and veggies.  I am going to use the $3 coupon to try them out.  You can get a coupon yourself by checking out Whitney Farms® and filling out the required information.  I'll be sure to let you know how big my plants grow!

I Want To Try The #CoronaRita at Chili's!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Chili’s Grill & Bar for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

The other day, my downstairs neighbor and I were talking about needing a girl's night out.  I've never had actual girlfriends before, so I've never been a part of a girl's night out.  To say I am excited would be an understatement.  I acually have a few girlfriends I would love to get together with, and while they don't necessarily know each other, I think a night of food and drinks can change that.  I am hoping that we can make this a monthly thing.

I have been thinking about where we should go, and I want it to be somewhere I have never been before.  One of my friends recommended Chili's, which just so happens to be somewhere I have never been.  I checked out their menu online, because now that I am dieting, I wanted to make sure they had something good for me to eat that wouldn't ruin my weigh in.  They have several "light" choices, and I am dying to try their Margarita Grilled Chicken.  their website describes it as "Classic Margarita-flavored grilled chicken with hints of lime and citrus, served with rice, black beans, tortilla strips and house-made pico de gallo ".  Sounds ymmy, right? And what better to go with that than the CoronaRita at Chili's, which is made with Jose Cuervo Especial Tequila and Corona.  I mean, look how thirst quenching this looks:

Now let me ask you, my loyal readers, what you uld recommend I try while at Chili's.  Keep in mind that I am trying to diet, but I am not opposed to sharing a dessert with my friends.  And the next time you are at Chili's, try the new CoronaRita, and make sure you come back here and let me know if you liked it.  Or loved it.  And I'll do the same!

“You must be 21 years or older to drink alcoholic beverages and as always, please remember to drink responsibly”

New Recipes For Chicken That Are Healthy

I cook a lot with chicken.  In fact, I can't remember the last time I made a dinner that didn't use chicken as the meat.My kids have their favorite chicken dishes that I make.  Ryan loves my Parmesan chicken, and the girls go crazy over my barbeque chicken with pineapple.  Last weekend, I was food shopping, and I found baby portabella mushrooms on sale, and I wanted to use them for supper.  I sauteed them in a little butter with some zucchini, then added them to some chicken I had sauteed separately in olive oil.  Talk about yummy!

I want to find some cookbooks that focus on healthy chicken recipes, since I am back on my diet (and doing great!). The problem is that cookbooks are kind of expensive.  I am trying to find one that I can use AbeBooks coupons to get, and their website has tons of cookbooks to choose from.  I found several about healthy cooking, but none specifically about chicken.  I think I might have to dig a little deeper.

I have been building up my kitchen gadget arsenal lately, too.  I have several different frying pans (both coated and non-coated) and a seemingly endless variety of utensils.  But, there are things I don't have that I really would like to have.  I might have to find some Amazon promotional codes to help me afford the things I want.  

There are other things besides cooking stuff I want, too, now that I have a little bit of extra cash.  I was thinking about starting my Christmas shopping so that what happened last year doesn't happen again this year.  I was checking out Geek Gadgets 2012 and there are lots of random things on there that my kids would love! The problem is going to be finding a place to hide whatever I buy for the next eight months where the kids won't find everything.

Daffodils

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Bulbs. Dig, Drop, Done. for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love flowers! If you do too, now is the time to start thinking about getting those bulbs in the ground.  I want to plant daffodils on flower pots on my porch, so I used the Garden Guru Tool at digdropdone.com to figure out when the best time to plant is in my area.  You can use it too.  All yu have to do is:

Step 1 – Pick your Country
Step 2 – Pick your location within that Country
Step 3 – Choose the type of bulb you want to grow
Step 4 – Check out the Planting Guide that shows you how to plant your bulbs.

This is what it suggests for my area:

While you are on the site, make sure you check out the Curbside Chaos they have going on right now.  To enter, simply upload a picture of your yard and explain why you think it needs help.  The lucky winner will not only receive a $5,000 yard makeover, but they will also receive a visit from Taniya Nayak (@TaniyaNayak on Twitter) – Taniya will go through and give you tips on the best way to update your yard! She will give you creative ideas for incorporating flower bulbs into your landscape.  The contest ends April 15th, so hurry and get your entries in. You can visit www.digdropdone.com to learn more.  Also, for every share on Twitter, "Bulbs. Dig, Drop, Done." will donate $1.00 to Rebuilding Together - the nation’s leading nonprofit, working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize communities.

This website also offers lots of advice for growing flowers that suit your needs.  They have different women who offer different advice, and I find myself identifying with Marcy, the super mom.  She talks about how bulbs are easy to plant, leaving her time to care for her family.  I work so much, and when I'm not working, I am all about being the best mom I can be.  I want beautiful flowers on my porch, but I don't want to spend a lot of time planting and caring for them.  That's why bulbs are perfect for me. 

Are You Hungry?

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Walmart Foundation for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I'm dieting right now (big surprise, right) so I am always hungry.  I have three kids at home who always seem to be hungry too, no matter how long it has been since their last meal or snack.  I am so thankful that when we are hungry, all we need to do is walk into the kitchen and find something to munch on. I am even more thankful that I am not one of the more than fifty million Americans who do not know where their next meal will come from, let alone snack.

I was unaware that Springtime is a difficult time for food pantries to keep food available for those in need.  Walmart knows this, and is doing a Facebook campaign called Vote to fight spring hunger with Walmart where you can vote for the community you think needs assistance the most.  They have a list of 200 communities ranked by their unemployment rates.  I was surprised to find the county where I live (Spartanburg SC) fairly high on the list with an unemployment rate of 11.4%.  Voting starts April 9th and continues until April 30th, with the winners announced May 1st.  The community with the most votes will receive one million dollars, and the twenty runners up will each receive fifty thousand dollars.  That is a lot of money, and I want to make sure that my community get a piece of it. 

You can also participate in Fighting Hunger Together by purchasing select products from ConAgra, General Mills, Kraft and Kellogg's at Walmart. Doing so allows customers to donate meals to Feeding America or Action for Healthy Kids, a nonprofit fighting childhood hunger. Make sure and check your local Walmart for all the details the next time you stop in.

Together we can help make sure that when someone is hungry, they have food to eat.

Colored Deviled Eggs For Easter

I pinned this recipe about a month ago, and last night Boo and I tried it out. Talk about easy! I hard boiled the eggs, peeled them, then cut them in half, removing the yolks. While I was doing that, Brandi filled four bowls with water, adding a few drops of different colored food coloring to each.  She dropped the eggs halves into the bowls, we let them soak for about an hour, and this is what we ended up with. I let the eggs drain on paper towels in the fridge for a while and then we filled them. Pretty cute, right?